Product display bracket

ABSTRACT

A product display bracket is configured for displaying products on a slatwall. The display bracket is configured to display products at an angle from the horizontal surface of the slatwall. The display bracket is also adapted to be removably attached to other brackets on a slatwall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/409,315 filed on Nov. 02, 2010, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to mounting fixtures. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a product display bracketfor a “slatwall,” which is defined herein as a wall provided withelongated horizontally extending grooves.

BACKGROUND

A slatwall is a wall panel formed from metal, wood board, or othersuitable material into which a plurality of regularly spaced L-shaped orT-shaped grooves are formed that allow various mounting brackets to bequickly attached and detached, thus affording the user great flexibilityin how items are displayed.

A typical slatwall mounting bracket includes a flat base plate and acantilever element for fitting into one of the grooves. The cantileverelement is generally an L-shaped mounting flange that extendsperpendicularly from the base plate and then forms a corner that turnsupward. The base plate generally lies flat against the slatwall and maybe integrated into the rest of the bracket or may be adapted to havenon-slatwall brackets attached to it. Typically, if the base plate isintegrated into the bracket, the bracket will simply have the mountingflange and a surface that contacts the slatwall to serve the function ofthe base plate. The display portions of typical slatwall brackets extendnormally from the slatwall and can be virtually any shape. Typicalslatwall brackets are limited in shape and size only by the amount ofweight the bracket can hold. Because of the cantilever design, bendingstresses generated by the bracket tend to apply the load weight forcesto the inner wall of the upper groove. Thus, it is the strength of theslatwall itself that usually the limits how much weight a slatwallbracket can safely hold.

The product display portion of the bracket commonly extendsperpendicularly from the base plate, causing whatever product displayedon the bracket to be in either a parallel or perpendicular orientationto the slatwall. While this configuration works well for many products,some, such as CD's, DVD's, or books would be better displayed at anangle between zero and 90 degrees so that both the fronts and sides ofthe products are visible to passing customers. Further, displaying theproducts at an angle allows more products to be displayed on a givenlength of wall (without protruding out too far) by nesting the angledslots next to each other.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a display bracket for displaying itemson a slatwall. The display bracket is configured to allow one or more ofthe same or similarly sized products to be mounted at an angle from thehorizontal surface of the slatwall. The bracket is further configured tobe used with a variety of slatwalls and to allow multiple brackets to beremovably attached to each other, thereby creating an array of bracketsto facilitate large displays.

One embodiment of the invention is a bracket having four surfaces thatrest against the slatwall to support the bracket. The bracket includesslots that are adapted to display products such as DVD's, CD's, or booksat an angle greater than zero and less than 90 degrees from the wall sothat both the fronts and sides of the products are visible to passingcustomers. The bracket includes one or more slots positioned side byside. The bracket also includes a cutout at one end of the bracket, anda nub at the opposite end of the bracket. The nub is shaped to fit intothe cutout of a second bracket, thus allowing multiple brackets to beconnected to each other to create a long, continuous display. Thebracket is preferably made of injection molded plastic, but othermaterials, such as metal or wood, may be used without departing from theinvention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that one or moreaspects of this invention can meet certain objectives, while one or moreother aspects can lead to certain other objectives. Other objects,features, benefits and advantages of the present invention will beapparent in this summary and descriptions of the disclosed embodiment,and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such objects,features, benefits and advantages will be apparent from the above astaken in conjunction with the accompanying figures and all reasonableinferences to be drawn therefrom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of two embodiments of a slatwall bracket inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1 takengenerally along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another section view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1 takengenerally along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is another section view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1 takengenerally along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a another perspective view of the slatwall brackets of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a another slatwall bracket in accordancewith the invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is another side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 11 is a back view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 6.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a slatwallbracket in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 13 is a front view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is another side view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 16 is a top view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

FIG. 17 is a back view of the slatwall bracket of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, two embodiments of a slatwall bracket 100, 200in accordance with the invention are shown. The slatwall brackets 100,200 are adapted to be mounted to a slatwall 300. The slatwall 300includes a series of boards 302 mounted on a wall 304 such that a gap306 is formed between the boards 302. A “T” or “L” shaped pocket 308 isformed between the boards 302 and the wall 304. The slatwall 300 couldalso be made from a contiguous board having grooves cut therein to formthe gaps and pockets.

The slatwall brackets 100, 200 differ only in the number of items thateach can display. The first embodiment of the slatwall bracket 100 candisplay two items, while the second embodiment 200 can display fouritems. Each bracket 100, 200 has a series of slots 102, 202 that areconfigured to hold items 400 such as DVDs, CDs, books, or similarlysized objects. The brackets 100, 200 may include slots 102, 202 ofvarying shapes and sizes to accommodate a wide variety of items withoutdeparting from the invention. The slots 102, 202 are configured suchthat they allow items 400 to be displayed in less horizontal space thanif the items 400 were displayed horizontally. In other words, displayingthe items 400 at an angle away from the slatwall 300 allows the slots102, 202 to be nested into each other with some overlap of the displayeditems 400. The amount of nesting may be varied by varying the angle atwhich the slots 102, 202 are displaced from the slatwall 300.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a section view of the slatwall bracket 200 andslatwall 300 is shown taken generally along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2. FIG.3 shows how the bracket 200 is attached to the slatwall 300. The brackethas a mounting flange 204 that extends normally from the bracket 200 andthen extends upward to fit into the pocket 308 in the slatwall 300. Themounting flange 204 is generally an L-shaped cantilever element andincludes a horizontal member 206 and a vertical member 208. The verticalmember 208 has an outside surface 210 and an inside surface 212. Theoutside surface 210 of the vertical member 208 of the mounting flange204 contacts the inner surface 310 of the slatwall board 302. Thebracket 200 also contacts the front surface 312 of the slatwall board302 at multiple locations on the back of the bracket 200. In operation,the mounting flange 204 is inserted into the opening 306 in the slatwalland rotated in position to hang the bracket 200 on the slatwall 300.

Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a section view of the slatwall brackets100, 200 is shown, taken generally along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2 and aperspective view of the brackets 100, 200 is shown. FIG. 5 shows how twobrackets 100, 200 may be removably attached to each other. As shown, thefirst bracket 100 includes a nub 114 at one end of the bracket 100. Thesecond bracket 200 includes a corresponding cutout 216 at one end of thebracket 200. The nub 114 may be inserted into the corresponding cutout214 to removably attach two brackets 100, 200 together to be mounted onthe slatwall 300. Attaching multiple brackets 100, 200 together allowsretailers to customize their display system to accommodate any number ofitems together on the slatwall 300, while maintaining consistent spacingbetween the brackets 100, 200 and also creating the impression of asingle, continuous bracket.

Turning now to FIGS. 6-11, one embodiment of the slatwall bracket 100 isshown. The bracket 100 is configured to display two items at an angleaway from the slatwall 300. The bracket 100 is preferably made ofinjection molded plastic, but may be constructed of other materialswithout departing from the invention. The bracket includes provisionsfor mounting to a slatwall 300, as well as two slots 102, configured atan angle greater than zero degrees and less than 90 degrees from theslatwall 300. The slots 102 are displaced from the slatwall 300 by ahorizontal member 106 of a mounting flange 104. The horizontal member106 extends normally from the slatwall 300 and is generally triangularin shape when viewed from above as in FIG. 10. To strengthen and supportthe bracket 100, two gussets 116, 118 are incorporated into the bracket100. The gussets 118, 120 serve two purposes: to provide rigidity to thebracket 100 and to provide contact surfaces against the front surface312 of the slatwall 300. When the bracket 100 is mounted to the slatwall300, there are three contact points between the bracket 100 and thefront surface 312 of the slatwall 300: the first gusset 118, the secondgusset 120, and the back inside corner of the slots 122.

Turning now to FIGS. 12-17, another embodiment of the slatwall bracket200 is shown. The bracket 200 shown in FIGS. 12-17 is nearly identicalto the one shown in FIGS. 6-11, except that the bracket 200 shown inFIGS. 12-17 is configured to display four items instead of two. As aresult, the bracket 200 includes three gussets 218, 220 instead of two,and there are five contact points with the front surface 312 of theslatwall 300: the first gusset 218, the second gusset 220, the firstinside corner of the slots 222, the third gusset 220, and another insidecorner of the slots 222. The horizontal member 204 also extends normallyfrom the slatwall 300, but rather than being triangular in shape as inthe first embodiment, it has a sawtooth shape when viewed from above asin FIG. 16. The sawtooth shape accommodates two sets of slots 202 nestedtogether to create a bracket that is configured to display four items400. The pattern shown in this embodiment may be expanded to accommodateany number of slots. Apart from the number of slots 202 included in thebracket 200, the embodiment of the bracket 200 shown in FIGS. 12-17 isidentical to bracket 100 described above in FIGS. 6-11.

Although the invention has been herein described in what is perceived tobe the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understoodthat the invention is not intended to be limited to the specificembodiments set forth above. Rather, it is recognized that modificationsmay be made by one of skill in the art of the invention withoutdeparting from the spirit or intent of the invention and, therefore, theinvention is to be taken as including all reasonable equivalents to thesubject matter of the appended claims and the description of theinvention herein.

1. A product display bracket comprising: a mounting flange including agenerally planar body and a vertical member extending from the body; themounting flange adapted to hook into a slatwall groove in a slatwall;one or more slots having a planar front side and a planar rear side, thefront and rear sides being parallel to each other and offset from eachother by a predetermined distance; the slots further having a planarbottom adapted to support an item to be displayed on the product displaybracket; and the slots being attached to the top at an angle from themounting flange of greater than zero degrees and less than ninetydegrees.
 2. The product display bracket of claim 1, wherein the bracketincludes a plurality of gussets adapted to provide support against theslatwall for the slots, to fill a gap formed where the slots extend fromthe slatwall, and to provide rigidity to the product display bracket. 3.The product display bracket of claim 1, wherein the product displaybracket is made of plastic.
 4. The product display bracket of claim 1,wherein the product display bracket is made of sheetmetal.
 5. Theproduct display bracket of claim 1, wherein the product display bracketis adapted to be removably attached to another bracket.
 6. The productdisplay bracket of claim 5, wherein the product display bracket may beremovably attached to another product display bracket by a cutout on oneof the gussets and a corresponding nub on the opposite end of theproduct display bracket.